FIRST PERIOD: Kings 1, Blackhawks 0

Recap: Both goalies were tested early — and both brought their “A” games. Jonathan Quick stopped all nine shots he faced, and the Kings killed the only penalty of the period. Corey Crawford matched his counterpart, saving the first seven shots on goal. But Dwight King took a beautiful Jarret Stoll pass from behind the net and beat Crawford with a wrister from the slot for the first goal.

SECOND PERIOD: Kings 1, Blackhawks 2

Recap: Well, that didn’t take long. After a Kings penalty 20 seconds into the period, Kane beat Quick for his seventh goal of the playoffs to draw the Hawks even. Ben Smith gave them their first lead 1:37 later, deflecting the puck off Quick’s skate from just behind the net. Patrick Sharp almost padded the lead, but Quick got just enough of the shot to knock it off the crossbar. Alec Martinez nearly tied it on the Kings’ first power play but couldn’t finish his wraparound despite a half-open net.

THIRD PERIOD: Kings 3, Blackhawks 4

Recap: The Hawks’ failure to clear the puck allowed the Kings to tie it on a Drew Doughty goal, and a Jonathan Toews hooking penalty 23 seconds later put LA on the power play. Crawford robbed Anze Kopitar of the go-ahead goal, but Doughty found Martinez in the middle of the ice, and the defenseman’s shot beat Crawford for the Kings’ second goal in 2:06 and a 3-2 lead. Duncan Keith knotted the score 3:56 later, taking a nifty backhanded pass from Kane and wristing it past Quick. Kane wasn’t done, circling from the right side to the left and beating Quick through traffic with 3:45 left for a 4-3 lead. Showtime, indeed. With Marian Gaborik parked in front of him, Crawford made a nice save on a Martinez shot with a little more than a minute left, then survived a final frantic flurry to send the series back to Chicago for Game 7. See you Sunday.

SOURCES: NHL; STATS

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